Senior Quality Assurance (QA) / Test Automation Engineer
Salary

Test Automation Engineers in the United States can expect to earn an average of $88K per year. In the world of Test Automation Engineers, total cash compensation can vary between $66K and $122K. Each package generally includes bonuses and profit sharing proceeds, and in exceptional cases, those amounts can reach heights of $12K and $10K, respectively. Geography and career duration each impact pay for this group, with the former having the largest influence. The majority of Test Automation Engineers claim high levels of job satisfaction. Most Test Automation Engineers survey respondents are men (78 percent). Medical benefits are awarded to a large number, and a fair number earn dental coverage. Respondents to the PayScale salary survey provided the data for this report.

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

XTotal Pay combines base annual salary or hourly wage, bonuses, profit sharing, tips, commissions, overtime pay and other forms of cash earnings, as applicable for this job. It does not include equity (stock) compensation, cash value of retirement benefits, or the value of other non-cash benefits (e.g. healthcare).

Find Out Exactly What You Should Be Paid

Senior quality assurance and test automation engineers design applications that will convert manual test preparation into automated test preparation. They design, create, test and implement these solutions in order to automate as much of the manual test preparation as possible by using codes and scripts. Test automation engineers are usually part of a team: They work with the test lead to identify any challenges that could cause problems during the test automation process. They work with test designers to understand exactly what the requirements of the test are. They also work with the developers who have created the application being tested. All must work together in order to ensure that the testing process goes smoothly. In order to get the most out of the automation process, a test automation engineer must know when to implement automated solutions and in what order.

Test automation engineers have many responsibilities that vary based on the phase of the testing process in which they are working. The first testing phase is the unit test phase where the test automation engineer utilizes an application code. This code must be able to be used repeatedly before it is incorporated into the current build. The next testing phase is the function and system test. In this phase, test automation engineers develop automated solutions to increase the speed and efficiency of the test preparation process. They may do this by creating test cases or tooling with the software code.

Test automation engineers then implement an acceptance test. This is typically the same process as in the function and system test phase, except that the acceptance test is expedited as part of the system being deployed. If any changes are required, the designer of the test will be alerted and will review where improvements can be made.

Plan your career path. Drag job titles to investigate a particular path and click on a link to see where particular career can lead.

Test Automation Engineers who become Software Quality Assurance Managers position may earn slightly higher salaries. The median income for that position is $102K per year. Many Test Automation Engineers advance into roles as Software Quality Assurance Managers or Quality Assurance Managers, but the median salaries are $4K lower and $23K lower, respectively.

Senior Quality Assurance (QA) / Test Automation Engineer Job Listings

Search for more jobs:

This chart shows the most popular skills for this job and what effect each skill has on pay.

Test Automation Engineers report using a deep pool of skills on the job. Most notably, skills in UNIX, Java, GUI Test Automation, and Test Automation are correlated to pay that is above average, with boosts between 6 percent and 9 percent. Those educated in Automated Testing tend to be well versed in Test Automation, GUI Test Automation, and Quality Assurance / Quality Control.

Median of all compensation (including tips, bonus, and overtime) by years of experience.

For Test Automation Engineers, level of experience appears to be a somewhat less important part of the salary calculation — more experience does not correlate to noticeably higher pay. The average beginner in this position makes around $83K, but folks who have been around for five to 10 years see a markedly higher median salary of $90K. Test Automation Engineers bring in $97K after working for 10 to 20 years. Veterans who have surpassed the 20-year mark may make only slightly more than those who are navigating the mid-career stage; the more senior group reports median earnings of around $98K.

Pay Difference by Location

Surpassing the national average by 19 percent, Test Automation Engineers in San Francisco receive some of the highest pay in the country. Test Automation Engineers will also find cushy salaries in San Jose (+18 percent), New York (+16 percent), Sunnyvale (+16 percent), and Austin (+7 percent). Trailing the national average by 19 percent, Chicago is the market with the smallest paychecks. Employers pay around 12 percent less in Dallas and 5 percent less in Minneapolis, below-median salaries for those in this field.